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I wonder how many M1911A1 45s were brought home in duffel bags?
Some grunts got caught and some weren't.
Tell me your story and I'll tell you mine! After all, the statute of limitations has long passed.
Perhaps your story could be about how and/or what your "friend" did to get his M1911A1 home.
It was 1966 when my "friend" simply went thru the US Customs line where only about 1/3rd of the duffel bags seemed to be actually searched. My "friend" was asked what was in his bag and he responded, "Mainly underwear and socks - - lots of socks."
My "friend" was looked in the eye, didn't blink, and was allowed to go thru.
I gather that changed dramatically after 1968.

I hate to be the one to say it, but there is no statue of limitations on stolen government property. If the US military wanted to reclaim a Civil War cannon that they were sure had been illegally wheeled off the battlefield in 1862 they can confiscate it. Having said that, the likelihood that anyone with a pilfered .45 needs to worry about a knock on their door is extremely remote. The US military kept very poor records during the wars and they simply don't know for sure what pistols were lost, stolen, destroyed, given away to other countries, or legally sold through DCM. Besides that, the 1911 is obsolete in today's military and they simply have better things to do than go running around trying to round up guns that they no longer have any use for.

However, with all that out of the way I'm not sure many people here are going to freely admit that they personally liberated a 1911 from Uncle Sam.

__________________Avoid the temptation to replace everything on your brand-new 1911 just to make it "better". Know what you're changing out and why. You may spend a lot of money fixing things that weren't broken to begin with. Shoot at least 500 rounds through it first, then decide what you don't like and want to improve. Regarding vintage 1911s, pre-1970 pistols are highly collectible in original, unaltered condition and should NEVER be refinished or modified as it completely ruins their monetary value.

You can turn in your US Property guns to Retired Military folks. We will look after them until Uncle Sam needs the guns and/or us. We will keep your sins secret and give you a genuine receipt, we are trained for and experienced at realignment of Government assets.

You can turn in your US Property guns to Retired Military folks. We will look after them until Uncle Sam needs the guns and/or us. We will keep your sins secret and give you a genuine receipt, we are trained for and experienced at realignment of Government assets.

As mentioned in another post stories and reality. I can tell you that during WWII it was not as common as some say. My dad told me that before he was sent home from the European Theatre in Mar 45 their sea bags were checked. German stuff was OK but not American arms. After all there was still a war going on and they needed weapons...

There is no ATF trace history and it was turned in to the dept as found property. There is no import stamps. IIRC, it was found in an apt closet (top shelf) with no previous apt owner information obtain.

It was destined to be cut up. I saved it and got it awarded to the dept.

Someone had messed with it as the original slide stop is gone, it sports hard/slick pacmyers, aluminum trigger and a decent trigger press for a 1942 manufacture.

while this is not US Govt property.... somebody brought it over. If you blow up the ejection side photo, 1942 is stamped on the slide, just forward of the grasping grooves.

And this is just another reason why nobody wants to share their stories.

__________________Avoid the temptation to replace everything on your brand-new 1911 just to make it "better". Know what you're changing out and why. You may spend a lot of money fixing things that weren't broken to begin with. Shoot at least 500 rounds through it first, then decide what you don't like and want to improve. Regarding vintage 1911s, pre-1970 pistols are highly collectible in original, unaltered condition and should NEVER be refinished or modified as it completely ruins their monetary value.

Just be grateful that he managed to bring himself back. I used to wonder why GIs would risk getting into trouble bringing back their sidearm, until it dawned on me that many of them felt Uncle Sam owed them something for what they were put through.

__________________Avoid the temptation to replace everything on your brand-new 1911 just to make it "better". Know what you're changing out and why. You may spend a lot of money fixing things that weren't broken to begin with. Shoot at least 500 rounds through it first, then decide what you don't like and want to improve. Regarding vintage 1911s, pre-1970 pistols are highly collectible in original, unaltered condition and should NEVER be refinished or modified as it completely ruins their monetary value.

I carried a Browning .25ACP and ammo to VN in my duffel bag. While there I swapped it for a Thompson. Approaching DEROS and separation I thought about taking the Thompson home but decided I'd rather be sure of getting home and out of the USArmy. I forgot how I got rid of the Thompson but it remained behind. This was '62-'63, before it was a war.

Mostly on topic, my father was an Infantry 2nd Lt. in the 25th Division ("Tropic Lightning") during the unpleasantness in Korea in 1952-53. After the Armistice he and the survivors of his unit, fresh from a disagreement with some Chinese "volunteers" over the ownership of Pork Chop Hill, were lined up on the docks of Pusan waiting to board their troopship home. A newly minted 2nd Lt. with a clipboard announced that all duffel bags would be searched for contraband. While my father chuckled behind his hand, a couple of grizzled sergeants informed the Lt. that any such attempt would result in him being thrown into Pusan Harbor. My father and his unit, their duffle bags ummolested, boarded their troopship with a newly liberated burp gun secreted in every other bag.

I came "back to the World" in 1969 with 219 other guys. We landed at McCord AFB. A customs inspector went through all of our bags with a fine toothed comb. My guy was really interested in my SKS. I also had to pay duty on the booze I brought back.

There is no ATF trace history and it was turned in to the dept as found property. There is no import stamps. IIRC, it was found in an apt closet (top shelf) with no previous apt owner information obtain.

It was destined to be cut up. I saved it and got it awarded to the dept.

Someone had messed with it as the original slide stop is gone, it sports hard/slick pacmyers, aluminum trigger and a decent trigger press for a 1942 manufacture.

while this is not US Govt property.... somebody brought it over. If you blow up the ejection side photo, 1942 is stamped on the slide, just forward of the grasping grooves.

Nice pistol, too bad being a KONGSBERG 1914 you can't even look for correct parts to replace odd ones, as all its original parts were numbered.

__________________SergioAnything with a FLGR is fluff, if JMB didn't put it on the 1911 you don't need it.
If you are going to collect, don't be drawn to an example that is not original, nor correct, focus and shoot for top quality and buy the gun not the story.

Mostly on topic, my father was an Infantry 2nd Lt. in the 25th Division ("Tropic Lightning") during the unpleasantness in Korea in 1952-53. After the Armistice he and the survivors of his unit, fresh from a disagreement with some Chinese "volunteers" over the ownership of Pork Chop Hill, were lined up on the docks of Pusan waiting to board their troopship home. A newly minted 2nd Lt. with a clipboard announced that all duffel bags would be searched for contraband. While my father chuckled behind his hand, a couple of grizzled sergeants informed the Lt. that any such attempt would result in him being thrown into Pusan Harbor. My father and his unit, their duffle bags ummolested, boarded their troopship with a newly liberated burp gun secreted in every other bag.

A good friend of my dad's served with the 88th Infantry Division in Europe. It was given the job of occupying the Italian city of Trieste at the end of WWII. Buck used to tell the story about a guy in his unit that disassembled a German MP40 machine gun and mailed the parts home separately. At some point this guy got a package from home that contained the fully assembled MP40. The story was that this guy's wife had assumed he needed it for army use, somehow had it reassembled, and shipped it back, complete and fully functional.

I hate to be the one to say it, but there is no statue of limitations on stolen government property. If the US military wanted to reclaim a Civil War cannon that they were sure had been illegally wheeled off the battlefield in 1862 they can confiscate it. Having said that, the likelihood that anyone with a pilfered .45 needs to worry about a knock on their door is extremely remote. The US military kept very poor records during the wars and they simply don't know for sure what pistols were lost, stolen, destroyed, given away to other countries, or legally sold through DCM. Besides that, the 1911 is obsolete in today's military and they simply have better things to do than go running around trying to round up guns that they no longer have any use for.

However, with all that out of the way I'm not sure many people here are going to freely admit that they personally liberated a 1911 from Uncle Sam.

Unless you have a Amnesty registered USGI bring back M16 lower that was registered in 1968.

As I recall, the Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln as well as the Hastings Museum have a number of WWII era firearms that were donated by/from soldier bringbacks including NFA items. One of my best friend's dad (USMC) returned home from Vietnam in 1969 after Hue, Da Nang, Khe Sanh et al with a duffel choc full of goodies including a Thompson and other assorted; ATF met him at customs to ask if the bag was his-he agreed and after a review of his service record, declined to pursue anything beyond mere confiscation...I would say that his good fortune and luck held out one more time after surviving 'Nam 1968! That said, pushing it can easily get you hard time as some dude from Ft Campbell recently found out...
My personal conclusion is; its not worth it. Just wait & go home and buy something from the gunshow.

We're actually talking two different things here... bringing back captured enemy weapons as souvenirs versus trying to smuggle home US military or NFA restricted firearms. If you captured a Tokarev or SKS and wanted to bring it back with you there was a procedure for doing so, and I believe your CO had to sign off on it, but it was usually doable. Bringing back something that still belonged to Uncle Sam was of course a different matter, as was an AK-47 since it would've been an honest-to-Mao machine gun.

Of course that was only up until the time of Vietnam. Nowadays you're not allowed to bring anything back except embedded shrapnel.

__________________Avoid the temptation to replace everything on your brand-new 1911 just to make it "better". Know what you're changing out and why. You may spend a lot of money fixing things that weren't broken to begin with. Shoot at least 500 rounds through it first, then decide what you don't like and want to improve. Regarding vintage 1911s, pre-1970 pistols are highly collectible in original, unaltered condition and should NEVER be refinished or modified as it completely ruins their monetary value.

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